Deonte Thompson out for Thursday with sprained foot, Dickson noncommittal on availability for opener

Pictures of the Ravens game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17.

Aaron WilsonThe Baltimore Sun

Ravens wide receiver Deonte Thompson has a sprained left foot that will sideline him Thursday night for a preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Thompson got hurt against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week and hasn't returned to practice. He's expected back for the Ravens' third preseason game Aug. 22 against the Carolina Panthers.

"It's not serious," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "We're going to hold him out this game and re-evaluate him on Friday and see where he's at."

Running back Bernard Pierce suffered a sprained left knee when he was hit in the end zone following a 20-yard touchdown run against Tampa Bay. A magnetic resonance imaging exam revealed no structural damage to the primary backup to Pro Bowl runner Ray Rice.

Pierce hasn't been ruled out for Thursday night..

"It's not serious," Harbaugh said.

Pierce expressed relief that the injury isn't a long-term situation.

"It's not a serious thing at all," Pierce said. "It's just a little minor sprain, thank God. I'll be back fast."

Tight end Ed Dickson remains out indefinitely with a slightly torn right hamstring.

"You can't rush back those things," Dickson said. "I'm trying my hardest to get back out there. It kills me. I'm hard on myself. I want to get back out there today, but I don't want to go out and hurt the team and be out for weeks during the regular season.

"It's one of those things where you got to look back and see if you did all the right things to prevent the thing. You never know with a muscle pull. You have to make sure that you take care of it so it's not recurring all the weeks in the season. You have to make sure you're on top of those things. I'm pretty sure that we pinpointed it and we're just trying to get it as healthy as we can."

Dickson was noncommittal on whether he can return in time for the Ravens' Sept. 5 regular-season opener against the Denver Broncos.

"I can’t make any predictions but I’m working hard to do that," Dickson said. "It's one of those things where it was really sore and I tried to prevent it by doing other things. The doctor said it went all the way through, so it's not lingering through the season so I can get all the way healthy and make me back to 100 percent."